Cybersecurity best practices for access control

Key cybersecurity best practices for access control

By implementing these best practices, you can better secure access to sensitive data and reduce the risk of data breaches or unauthorized access.

Use strong authentication methods

In addition to using a strong password, it is recommended that your organization adopt multi-factor authentication (MFA) for signing in to your access control system or verifying identities. 

The MFA method of signing in, such as using a one-time passcode sent to a mobile device in addition to a user’s password, helps to stop malicious actors from accessing sensitive information with just one set of obtained credentials.

MFA also extends to physical access. The added security step of using a pin and a key card at a door reader can help bolster security and significantly reduce the chance of a bad actor gaining unauthorized access using a lost or stolen key card.

Use the latest technology

As cyber attacks grow and methods of gaining illegal access develop, it becomes even more critical to use the latest access control technology to help protect your organization from new threats.

Using the latest access control reader and credential technology with the latest firmware and software designed to combat cyber attack techniques, especially for restricted areas, will increase security and reliability and secure facilities.

Restrict access privileges

While granting the majority of staff the same access privileges might be more accessible, this can increase the chance of accidental or malicious insider threats. By restricting each employee’s access privileges to the minimum needed to perform their job roles, your organization can reduce risk and improve the security of restricted spaces.

Educate and train employees

The one best practice frequently overlooked by organizations is to train employees on the importance of secure access control, best practices to follow and the risks of unauthorized access.

By raising awareness of the importance of cybersecurity and undergoing regular training, employees will be better prepared to carry out their duties securely and help improve the organization’s cybersecurity posture.

Conduct regular access reviews

It’s a common industry best practice to review access rights regularly to ensure they are appropriate and up to date. Not only can this help remove unnecessary access rights for individuals, but it can also help identify suspicious activities that require further investigation.

Carry out regular audits

Your security operations team should regularly produce physical security audit event reports that provide a detailed record of all the activities performed in the access control system at your facility. This helps to detect any unauthorized access, suspicious activity or system vulnerabilities. 

Should an incident occur, the audit logs can be used to investigate the cause of the security event and prevent it from happening again. Further reasons for the importance of regular audit reports include:

• Compliance: Many regulatory bodies and industry standards mandate access control systems and regular audits. Compliance with these regulations helps establish stakeholder trust, build credibility and avoid legal penalties.

• Accountability: Audit event reports facilitate accountability and transparency. They enable the organization to see who is accessing sensitive data, their actions, and if anyone is violating company policies.

• Continual improvement: Audit reports facilitate continual improvement in an organization’s cybersecurity posture. They highlight gaps in the security protocol that need addressing, such as weak passwords, incorrect configurations, or outdated mechanisms.

Maintain reader inventory

Another frequently overlooked best practice is maintaining your reader inventory. By regularly maintaining and auditing your readers within an environment in use, you can help protect the communication line from the reader to the panel and discover any weakened readers. Updating to the latest firmware is key in maintaining access control readers.

Avigilon and cybersecurity

As a global leader in providing on-premise and cloud-based video and access control security solutions, Avigilon is fully aware of the importance of cybersecurity. Avigilon continually works to implement the highest security standards and measures within the Unity and Alta technology suites to protect them and its customers from the latest cybersecurity threats and attacks.

Avigilon firmly believes that data, devices, and services can be successfully protected only if the network-connected software and hardware implemented possess the appropriate defensive measures to ensure integrity, confidentiality, and availability. That’s exactly what Avigilon Unity Access delivers.

Avigilon Unity Access

Avigilon Unity Access is a browser-based, on-premise access control system that provides users with:

• The flexibility to respond to alerts from anywhere and anytime for better situational awareness.

• An intuitive, turnkey solution that can be deployed quickly.

• The ability to perform daily operations swiftly and respond to critical events on the go with the Unity Access mobile app.

• Time-stamped events for actions carried out on the system, including intrusion attempts, helping to maintain a complete audit trail of all key activities.

• A solution that is built on Linux, which minimizes virus threats and helps to eliminate expenses on operating system licenses and upgrades.

Secured inside and out

The Avigilon Unity Access solution is built on the secure Linux operating system. It considerably reduces the risk of virus attacks and helps to eliminate the cost of operating system licenses and upgrade fees. This means that the Unity Access operating system is closed, locked and secured.

But what proactive measures is Avigilon taking to help ensure its products, including Unity Access, are not vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks? 

Static Application Security Testing: The Avigilon Engineering team follows a well-defined development process, including Static Application Security Testing, to analyze the application source code for vulnerabilities.

Dynamic Application Security Testing: Avigilon also implements Dynamic Application Security Testing by scanning the running software for vulnerabilities, threat modeling and code reviews to find security vulnerabilities.

Looking for known vulnerabilities: The team actively scans open-source components for known vulnerabilities and monitors various sources for vulnerability notifications in the software components used in Avigilon’s products.

Penetration tests: Avigilon regularly conducts penetration tests for all its products to identify weak points and possible routes for bad actors to cyberattack.

Assess and respond to new threats: Avigilon promptly assesses and responds to any new security vulnerabilities and delivers software patches to its partners and customers to help protect them.

Motorola Solutions Inc. Cyber Security Program: Through this program, Avigilon regularly conducts security assessments of its products and processes, risk management, and training. In addition, Avigilon has a Cyber Security Champions program of in-house cybersecurity professionals.

Motorola Solutions Bug Bounty Program: This Motorola Solutions-led program encourages security researchers to report vulnerabilities in Avigilon products.

Visit the Avigilon Unity Access web page to learn more and help protect your people, properties and assets with a secure on-premise access control solution.